PLEASE, MR. PANDA

The essential words are right in the title—and somehow forgotten by all but one of the animals offered a selection of brightly colored doughnuts.

The titular panda is large and blocky, black and white against a neutral background. Mr. Panda’s expression is neutral as well, lending him an air of solemnity though he carries a lovely box of doughnuts and wears a ridiculously tiny hat with just one word on it: Doughnuts. “Would you like a doughnut?” he asks several black-and-white creatures (a penguin, a skunk, an ostrich, an orca) in turn. The ostrich declines, “No, go away,” but the others speak right up. “Give me the pink one,” says the penguin. “I want the blue one and the yellow one,” says the skunk. Mr. Panda’s ever-so-slightly passive-aggressive but certainly dignified response: “No, you cannot have a doughnut. I have changed my mind.” By the time a ring-tailed lemur comes up with not only a polite “May I…?” but a big “PLEASE, Mr. Panda?” tiny young listeners may be so pleased—and relieved—to see the dazzling treats given away that they won’t notice how deftly they’ve been given a manners lesson. Households with toddlers may find a new family catchphrase as Mr. Panda demonstrates one approach to eliciting those elusive “magic words.”

Simple yet funny enough for multiple readings.